Flawless Execution – “This Is It” – Practice Makes Perfect

We are often encouraged to look beyond our own business models to expand our horizons or to simply gain a different perspective. Music is one of my personal areas of interest in the outside world and I have learned to appreciate and value the many genres of music that exist today. As a lead guitar player for a number of bands over the years and a little recording in my studio, I can only imagine the level of commitment required to perform and record professionally.

I was inspired to write this post after watching Michael Jackson’s DVD, “This is it“. It is impressive to see how everyone is engaged and intimately involved with every nuance of the performance – from the performers themselves to the people working behind the scenes. Even more amazing was Michael Jackson’s recall of every note and step of the choreography. Michael provided extensive direction and leadership to assure a world-class performance could be delivered.

What does this have to do with Lean?

At its core, playing music can simply be described as playing the right notes at the right time. In many respects, music is analogous to many of our manufacturing processes. Music has a known process rate (beats per minute). The standardized work or method is the music score that shows what notes to play and when to play them. Similarly, the choreography serves as standardized work to document each and every step or movement for each performer. It can be very obvious (and painful) when someone plays the wrong note, sounds a note at the wrong time, or mis-steps.

Knowing that “This is it” was produced from film during the development of the production also exemplifies how video can be used to not only capture the moment but to improve the process along the way. The film provides the opportunity to review the performance objectively even if you happen to be in it. You will note that people are much more engaged and become “self-aware” in a radically different way.

Communication + Practice makes Perfect

It is also readily apparent that many hours of rehearsal are required to produce a world-class performance. Imagine working for days, weeks, months, or even years to produce a two-hour show for all of the world to see. How much can one person do to refine and perfect the performance? How much effort would you be willing to expend knowing that literally billions of people may someday be watching you!

As professionals, individual performers are expected to know their respective roles thoroughly. They are paid for their expertise and ability to perform with high expectations and demanding circumstances. The purpose of the rehearsal is not to necessarily practice your part as an individual, but rather to exercise your expertise as part of the team. Each performer must learn their cues from other performers and determine how they relate and fit in to the overall production process. Rehearsals provide the basis of the team’s communication strategy to assure everyone is on the same page all the time, every time.

Effective Training

Finally, “This is it” demonstrates the importance of training the whole team. Although individual training may be required, eventually the team must be brought together in its entirety. A downfall of many business training programs is that often only a select few people from various departments are permitted to attend with the expectation that they will bring what they learned “back to the team”. One of the most overlooked elements of training is the communication and coordination of activities between team members. Group breakout sessions attempt to improve interaction among team members, but this can’t replace the reality of working with the team on home turf. It seems that some companies expect trained professionals to intuitively know how to communicate and interact with each other. Nothing could be further from the truth if you are looking to develop a high performance team.

Last Words

Imagine what it would be like if we rehearsed our process and material changes with the same persistence and raw determination that performers and athletes in the entertainment and sports world exhibit. Overall Equipment Efficiency and more specifically Availability may improve beyond our expectations. Imagine applying the same degree of standardization to tasks that we perform everyday! As we strive for excellence, our tolerance for anything less diminishes as well.